Democrats on Taxes

Hillary Clinton
She is in support of a fair and progressive tax system that forces those that make the most money to give back the most money as well. As part of her nine-point tax reform plan, Clinton would let Bush’s tax cuts for people making more than $250,000 expire in 2010. In addition, she would freeze the estate tax cuts at their 2009 levels. According to Clinton’s campaign, these cuts to Bush’s current tax policy would pay for her proposals without increasing the national deficit. Clinton admits that the Alternative Minimum Tax needs reforming, but does not completely back the plan of U.S. Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., to repeal the AMT and implement a 4 percent surplus tax on a single $150,000 income or married $200,000 income. Some critics argue though that Clinton’s promise not to increase the deficit — as opposed to decreasing it — is not enough to be deemed fiscally responsible.… more. | Other issues | Bio

Barack Obama
Obama wants to restore fairness to the tax structure in America. Through his plan to give tax cuts that assist the working people instead of the wealthy, Obama plans to uphold the American belief that, “If you work hard, your work will be rewarded.” Obama has laid out four tax-based proposals that take the burden away from the middle class: provide income tax cut of up to $500 per person or $1,000 per working family, give homeowners an automatic tax credit, allow for a progressive tax cut for senior citizens that would eliminate income taxes for retirees making less than $50,000 per year and streamline the process of filing tax returns. In addition to reforming the tax structure so it caters to the working people, Obama plans to close the loopholes that legally allow corporations to evade paying their fair share of taxes. Cutting the Bush tax cuts to the wealthy will insure that Obama’s other proposals such as health care are covered.… more. | Other issues | Bio

Mike Gravel
Gravel believes the only way to reform the tax structure is to get rid of the IRS and the income tax and implement a truly “progressive” national sales tax - FairTax. Under our current tax structure Gravel notes that Americans are being taxed on what they earn and on what they spend, he says this is essentially a regressive tax structure. The three aspects of a fair tax system - and ones that Gravel believes are inherent in the FairTax - are transparency, a zero exception policy and simplicity. Gravel criticizes his Democratic opponents’ answers to the current tax policy: taxing the rich and taxing corporations. Gravel says that the rich can work the system and that corporations pass it onto consumers. The FairTax system that Gravel suggests would only tax Americans on what they spend. But it would also provide monthly payments to individuals and families based upon what they pay for life’s essentials. Under Gravel’s fair tax, social security and Medicare would be completely funded.… more. | Other issues | Bio

John Edwards (dropped out)
Reforming the tax structure is part of Edwards’ larger plan to strengthen the economy and make it a fair playing field for all Americans. His reformed tax code would represent the values of working Americans, which he believes are key to growing and strengthening the economy. The three new tax cuts that he has introduced underscore “savings, work and family.” Currently, the wealthy are given tax breaks that allow for them to save. In addition, their investments are not taxed and enables them to keep gaining wealth. On top of cutting Bush’s tax cuts and imposing taxes on both capital gains and dividends, Edwards would match the savings of working families up to $500, expand the earned income tax credit, modify the marriage penalty so that it is extended to single workers and increase the child care credit up to 50 percent of $5,000.… more. | Other issues | Bio

Dennis Kucinich (dropped out)
Kucinich promises that as a Democratic president, he will not raise taxes. He believes that the current tax structure redistributes the country’s wealth back up to the wealthy. In order to end this upward redistribution, Kucinich has laid out tax reform that includes retaining the child tax credit but extending it to lower income families, retaining the elimination of the marriage penalty and ceasing the tax cuts that Bush endowed to the Americans in the upper income-earning brackets. Kucinich would then have those leftover funds from the elimination of wealthy-American tax cuts and put them in a fund that would pay for universal college education. By stopping the flow of funds outside of America, Kucinich will lower the country’s deficit. This plan includes cutting America’s participation in NAFTA and the WTO and ending the war in Iraq.… more. | Other issues | Bio

Bill Richardson (dropped out)
Richardson promises to curb government spending and bring back the budget surpluses that existed under the Clinton Administration. He would make the middle-class tax cuts permanent and create new tax credits that would spark innovation and stimulate the economy. As he did for the state of New Mexico while he was governor, he would balance the country’s budget and reduce the federal deficit. In addition to implementing a constitutional amendment to balance the budget with “pay-as-you-go” policies, Richardson would also eliminate the almost $30 million in earmarks that Congress currently has and eliminate the $70 million directed toward corporate welfare. He would take $100 million from the war in Iraq and spend it on domestic needs.… more. | Other issues | Bio

Joe Biden (dropped out)
Biden’s tax reform policy is based upon eliminating the tax cuts that Bush has given to Americans in the top 1 percent of the tax bracket. He projects that with the $600 billion that these tax cuts will cost over the next 10 years, he can fund homeland security, health care and the No Child Left Behind programs. In the Senate, Biden spearheaded the efforts to reverse the Bush tax cuts, with his latest attempt in October 2007, and give tax breaks to the wage earners.… more. | Other issues | Bio

Chris Dodd (dropped out)
Dodd does not have a portion of his Web site devoted to providing his general stance on taxes. But based on his voting record while in the Senate, Dodd has been in support of a strong progressive tax. The National Taxpayers Union gave Dodd a 15 percent rating on votes affecting tax cuts and gave him the label of “Big Spender” on tax votes. He does not favor repealing the estate tax, also called the death tax, but he does favor moderating it to avoid losing all the revenue it generates. Dodd opposed the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts and would eliminate them for the upwardly wealthy and, in turn, provide incentives for the middle-income bracket. He also calls for establishing tax-deferred homeowner savings accounts. As part of his environmental plan, Dodd has called for a corporate carbon tax that would tax businesses on their carbon dioxide emissions.… more. | Other issues | Bio